Hopper for railway cars



AUS- 15, 1944- c. HANKlNs l HOPPER FOR RAILWAY-CARS Filed May 26, 1941 Z'Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 15, 1944'.

Filed May 26, 1941 2 sheetssheet 2 HNA@ Patente-d Aug. 15, 1944 Hoeren Fon RAILWAY CARS Cyrus Hankins, Washington, D. C., assignor to Unitcast Corporation, rioledo, Ohio, a corporation. of ohio Application lV-IayZG, 1941, Serial, No. 395,301

5 Claims. (Cl. 105--247) My invention/relates to improvements in the hoppers of railway hopper cars and-it has for its principal object to provide` a hopper which may be quickly and easily `assembled with a minimum of material and'without waste thereof.

One of the featuresof the invention consists in providingv a railway car hopper with substan-I tially identicalinner and: outer side `sheets which may be obtained by diagonally cutting a rectangu lar sheet from corner to corner.

IAnother` feature of 'the invention consists in providing the door frame of the hopper with a ilange for attachingit tothe inner hopper side sheet which is wider than 'the flange thereof for attachment to the outer hopper side sheet so that substantially identical lhopper side sheets of right triangular shape maybe disposed x at different angles to the verticaland'y'et be fastened to the door frame.

A further feature of the invention consists in providing the hopper with a floor sheet which underlies the lowery edges ofthe side sheets and is weldedthereto and in further providing the side sheet attaching portions of thefdoor frame with indentations for receiving portions Yof the floor sheet which may project beyond the `outer facesV of the side sheets.

pear and be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the lower portion of oneehalf of a railway hopper car embodying my invention.

I Figure 2 is a sidelelevational view of the-por tion of the car illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional viewv taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.v

Figurel is an enlarged detailsectionalV view taken on line 4--4 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the I drawings,

I indicates one of thecentersill beamsof azrail Wayv hopper car and la indicates one of the side;

sills thereof.- In such cars the hoppers are customarily arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the center sill and, as thehoppers of each pair are of identical construction, onlyA one-of them is illustrated in the drawings.

In the main, the hopper vcomprises inner` and outer sidev sheets 2 and 3, respectivelygannn clined oor'sheet 4 and ai door frame 5 which', in

addition to being connected tothe hopper sheets,

is connected'at its upperedge' to aftransver'se hood sheet 6 which may extend' from one side wall.::1

of the car to the opposite one. The door frame is formed with rearwardly projecting portions 8? and 9 for attachment by rivets I0 and l I, respectively, to the forward portions of the inner andf outer side sheets and it is also formed with a portion I2 for attachment by rivets I3 to the for-` ward edge portion of the inclined floor sheet 4 of the hopper. The lading discharge opening I4 of the door frame is normally closed by a swinging `door I'I having hinge straps I8 pivotally connected by pins I9 to hinge lugs 2li which may beconveniently formed integrally with the upperportion of the frame. Secured to the outer face of the door is a spreader 2| by which it is con-` nected to the door (not shown) of the hopper (not shown) on the opposite side of the center sill: The door may be advantageously maintained in= closed position by a hook 22 pivoted on the sideof the hopper and adapted to engage an arm 23 which is secured to the door-and projects laterally therefrom. I

So that the lower portion of the hopper and its appurtenances will fall within established rail-` way clearance limits, the outer side sheet of the hopper usually inclines downwardly and inwardly as shown in the drawings. No such restrictions control the disposition of the inner side sheet and,

since the capacity of the hopper would be un necessarily reduced to arrange the inner side sheet at the same angle to the vertical as the outer side sheet, the inner side sheet is customarily disposed in a vertical position or in only a slightly inclined position,

In the past, it has been the universal practice to make the inner and outer side sheets of suchshape that the forward edge of each will be disposed in a common plane, whereby the angles be tween the forward and lower edges of the side sheets Awill be the same when projected onto a vertical plane. However, in order for the vertically projected angles between the forward and lower edges of the respective side sheets to be the same, it is necessary that the actual angles between those edges of the sheets be different be-v angle between the forward and lower edges of the:

inner. side` sheet entails the loss of considerable material and time in cutting the sheets from blanks. f

My inventionghowever, contemplates the usel of inner andouter side sheetsY having the same, angle between the forward and lower edges thereof. This enables the use of identical sheets for the inside and outside of a hopper and permits the use of sheets formed by merely cutting a rectangular sheet of predetermined size diagonally from corner to corner. Thus the sheets may be quickly and expeditiously cut without any loss of material. Although the actual angle between the forward and lower edges of the inner and outer side sheets 2 and 3 in the drawings is 90, the projected angle designated A between the forward and lower edges of the outer side sheet is on account of the angle at which the sheet is disposed to the vertical 94 58', While the projected angle designated B between the forward and lower edges of the inner side sheet is on account of its slight inclination to the vertical only 90 8.

This difference in angularity between the forward and lower edges of the two side sheets results in the forward edge of the outer side sheet being substantially parallel with the plane of the lading discharge opening I4 of the door frame and in the forward edge of the inner side sheet being disposed at an angle to the plane of the door opening. To take care of this situation, flange 8 by which the door frame is attached to the 'inner side sheet is of considerably greater width o-r extent longitudinally of the car than flange 9 by which the frame is attached to the outer side sheet. Flange 8 preferably tapers downwardly so that it is widest at its upper portion and the row of rivets Ill by which it is attached to the inner side sheet is arranged in a line forming an acute angle with the plane of the lading discharge opening while the row of rivets Il connecting the frame to the outer side sheet is disposed in a line parallel with the plane of that opening.

To eliminate the bending and extra handling of the hopper sheets which would be necessary to provide them with flanges enabling them to be riveted to each other, the sheets are welded together. This is accomplished 4by havingr the floor sheet 4 underlie the lov/er edges of the side sheets 2 and 3 and applying welding material l5 to the inner faces of contiguous portions of the sheets. So that the floor sheets of the hoppers will not have to be cut with extreme precision and may thus vary in width within reasonable limits, the lower portions of the side sheet attaching flanges 8 and 9 of the door frame are formed with recesses or indentations I6 for receiving portions of the' floor sheet which may project beyond the outer faces of the side sheets. Without such recesses, it would be necessary to carefully trim the floor sheet along its side edges, should it project beyond the outer side faces of the side sheets,-before the frame could be assembled with the sheets.

From the foregoing, it will be perceived that a hopper construction has been devised requiring a minimum of material and one which may be easily and quicklyy assembled without waste of material.

What I claim is: Y

1. A hopper for railway cars comprising inner and outer downwardly converging side sheets, said side sheets being identical right triangles formed by cutting a triangular sheet diagonally so that the forward edge of each side sheet is disposed at right angles to the lower edge thereof, said outer side sheet being disposed at a greater angle'to the Vertical than the inner side sheet whereby the angle between the forward and lower edges of the outer side sheet when'projected on a vertieal plane is greater than the corresponding angle of the inner side sheet when similarly projected, an inclined floor sheet connected to the lower edge portions of the side sheets, and a door frame having a plurality of rearwardly extending portions respectively attached to said side and floor sheets adjacent the forward edges thereof, the portion of the frame secured to the inner side sheet extending rearwardly from the frame a greater distance than the portion thereof secured to the outer side sheet.

2. A hopper for railway cars comprising inner and outer downwardly converging side sheets, said side sheets being identical right triangles formed by cutting a rectangular sheet diagonally so that the forward edge of each side sheet is disposed at right angles to the lower edge thereof, said outer side sheet being disposed at a greater angle to the vertical than the inner side sheet whereby the angle between the forward and lower edges of the outer side sheet when projected on a vertical plane is greater than the corresponding angle of the inner sidesheet when similarly projected, an inclined floor,

sheet underlying the lower edges of the sidesheets and welded thereto, and a door frame having a lading discharge opening and provided with inner and outer side sheet attaching portions and with a floor sheet attaching portion respectively secured to said sheets, and extending rearwardly from said opening, said inner side sheet attaching portion of the frame extending rearwardly of the plane of the lading discharge open-'- said outer side sheet being disposed at a greaterA angle to the vertical than the inner'side sheet whereby the angle between the forward and lowerl edges of the outer side sheet when projected on a vertical plane is greater than the corresponding angle of the inner side sheet when similarly projected, an inclined oor sheet underlying the' lower edges of the side sheets and welded thereto, and a door frame having rearwardly extending' portions attached to each of said' sheets adjacent the forward portions thereof, the portion ofthe frame attached to said inner side sheet extending rearwardly a greater distance'than the por" tion attached to the outer side sheet and both of said side sheet attaching portions being re-v spectively provided adjacent their lower ends with indentations for receiving portions of the floor sheet which may extend beyond the outer faces of the side sheets.

4. A hopper for railway cars comprising inner and outer side sheets, said sidek sheets being? identical right triangles formed by cutting a rec; tangular sheet diagonally so that the forward edge of each side sheet is disposed at right anglesv to the lower edge thereof, one of said side sheets being arranged at a greater angle to the vertical than the other side sheet, an inclined floor sheet secured to the side sheets, and a door frame having a lading discharge opening and Vportionsfex'- tendingl rearwardly from said opening respec'- tively secured tothe forward edge portion of each I of the hopper sheets, theportion of the' frame secured to the sheet arranged at the lesser angleto the vertical extending rearwardly from the frame a greater distance than the portion of the frame secured to the other side sheet.

5. A hopper for a railway car comprising triangularly shaped inner and outer side sheets, a floor sheet underlying the lower edges of the side sheets and welded thereto, and a door frame having portions for attachment to said side sheets and iioor sheet, said side sheet attaching portions respectively having recesses adjacent their lower ends for receiving portions of the oor sheets which may project beyond the outer faces of the side sheets.

CYRUS HANKINS. 

